Rabbis 2014
He is the glue for a 90-family congregation of the “Frozen Chosen.” He travels throughout a 200-mile radius, teaching Hebrew to children and adults, leading home Shabbats and making hospital and sick calls. For 25 years he has been as constant as the Northern Star. — Jerry Goldberg
Rabbi Natkin entered the rabbinate with the sole purpose of becoming a military chaplain, and he served for 25 years in the Navy and the Marines. The glory he sought was to bring Judaism and spirituality to our troops overseas, often following them into the field and conducting “Shabbat” services regardless of what day of…
Rabbi Falcon helped heal the childhood wound in my soul of being “half” Jewish; not quite acceptable in my Jewish family and not understood in my non-Jewish world. This left me feeling intimidated and inauthentic. In 1996, I walked into a Rosh Hashanah service lead by Rabbi Ted. The congregation was warm, happy and engaged….
I moved to Jacksonville, Fla., almost two years ago with my fiancée (now my wife). We were in the midst of planning our wedding in Jacksonville and had yet to find a rabbi to marry us. All of the synagogues in Jacksonville required us to become members in order to perform our ceremony. Since we…
Even rabbis need to have rabbis. Three years ago we hired Rabbi Fellman, a fifth-year student at JTS, to read Torah and help out in our congregation. As the “senior rabbi,” my job was to serve as her mentor. Rabbi Fellman quickly became a colleague and an important part of our community, not just a…
Searching for a shul within walking distance of my new home in St. Paul’s Highland Park neighborhood, I tried the Temple of Aaron and found it not to my liking. Let’s be honest — as an aging Conservative synagogue, it seemed to be dying. A year later, my grown daughter suggested I try the shul…
I am 26 years old. I am not Orthodox. I go to shul. In some ways, I believe these three statements alone should be enough to convince you how amazing this rabbi is. How is she amazing? Let me count (just a few of) the ways: Rabbi Orenstein tries to connect the parshah to situations…
Through his social media channels and open congregation in California, Rabbi Fink regularly dismantles the image of a stern, judgmental Orthodox rabbi with no interest in open dialogue or transcending religious and cultural barriers. He writes on the most pressing issues facing the Jewish community, and maintains an atmosphere of mutual respect, unabashed honesty and…
I nearly died in the mid-’90s and urgently needed to feel the sense of spiritual belonging that community prayer affords. Yet, my profound exhaustion and seizures made it impossible to attend my own temple. I would be homebound for years. At some point, I contacted what is now the Union for Reform Judaism and spoke…
Rabbi Greenwald — or R’Adam, as I call him — is, in fact, completely rad. I got to know him as a student in his “Intro to Judaism” program, and he has become an invaluable mentor. He has the ability to teach a diverse roomful of students (ranging from “What’s a Jew?” to “My dad…
David and his wife, Cantor Rollin Simmons, came to Aspen just three years ago and have transformed a struggling and largely dormant small congregation into a major force promoting Jewish life and involvement in the Roaring Fork Valley. He has proven an inspiration to young families in the region, as well as to the older…
